Category: Muni Diaries Live

Twice a year, we take Muni Diaries out of the interwebs and into real life at Muni Diaries Live. If those stories, told to a packed crowd at the Elbo Room last Saturday are any indication, Muni is still the spot to mine storytelling gold.

Comedian Tirumari Jothi, whose tale of an out-of-this-world conversation (rings of Saturn included) had the crowd in stitches. You can see him this Friday, Nov. 10th, and the Comix Experience Outpost on Ocean Avenue.

Can riding the bus bring together 200 people to cheer whenever they hear a Muni line called out? The answer is “100 times yes,” as we experienced IRL at the Elbo Room last Saturday at Muni Diaries Live. For this show, we brought some seriously talented storytellers who, like you, shares their tales of what it’s like to live in San Francisco, one Muni ride at a time.

We kicked off the show with comedian and writer Irene Tu, who was a Muni celebrity last year and turned her friends into last-minute paparazzo to chase that fame.

J. W. Friedman, the host of I Don’t Even Own a Television, reviews bad books on his podcast. For Muni Diaries Live, he brought his own Muni story of an unlikely, potty-mouthed hero on the bus.

Dixie De La Tour is the founder of Bawdy Storytelling, true stories of sexual adventure. And of course, one of those adventures took place on Muni’s 5-Fulton.

We brought back Baruch Porras-Hernandez, our Muni Haiku champion, to share his own Muni story.Because, as we learned that night, when you cajole your suspicious out-of-town friend into Muni, all the while guaranteeing safety and a blissfully uneventful ride — you may just be eating those words for lunch.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Vivian Ho has written thousands of stories about our fair city. But the one that everyone remembers, of course, is the saucy one that happened on BART.

Writer Na’amen Tilahun recalls one eventful evening in the Castro, and the potential dangers of solo inebriated Muni Metro rides.

The Muni Haiku Battle took a brief hiatus, but it’s back in full force! This battle pit current champ Baruch against Irene, whose mantel is lined with golden dildos she’s won from Tourettes Without Regrets in years past. So who took home the Muni Haiku title this year?

After some heated 5-7-5 exchanges (some involving Easter eggs in body cavities), Baruch was named victorious, taking/wearing home the newest trophy!

We’re pretty big on wearable trophies in recent years, which means obviously this trophy is a cape. Rather befitting of this poetic hero, we must say.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the show and shared your stories with us. Muni Diaries is made of your stories, so we truly couldn’t do this without you! Our next show is on Nov. 4, but if you get lonely without us in the six months in between, perk up your ears to the Muni Diaries podcast on iTunes and Google Play.

Our favorite night of the year is back tomorrow at the Elbo Room! We’re bringing back the Muni Haiku Battle after a hiatus (here are all our trophies from years past). The battle will pit current champion Baruch Porras-Hernandez against Irene Tu, who holds the title at the Dirty Haiku Battle at Tourettes Without Regrets.

Twice a year, we bring Muni Diaries to life at the Elbo Room. There, you can hear true, hilarious tales from everyday riders like yourself. For our upcoming show on April 15, we’re bringing back our popular Muni Haiku Battle: a 5-7-5 syllabic showdown featuring our reigning champion, Baruch Porras-Hernandez. Watch him defend his crown (or rather, glorious headband) with these other stellar storytellers. Tickets are on sale now, so grab a ticket today and put us in your calendar of fun.

Twice a year we bring the best public transit stories to the stage, and for our ninth trip around the sun (where did the time go?), we’ll be back at the Elbo Room on April 15 with a fresh batch of only-in-SF stories just for you!

The photo above is Alexa von Kickinface, who brought down the house with her Muni-themed burlesque number last year. What else do we have in store for you this time? For this show, we are bringing back our Muni Haiku champion for a new battle! Tickets are on sale now, so grab one while they’re available.

Our storytellers:

Baruch Porras-Hernandez is a writer, performer, host, storyteller, and regular KQED community events host based in San Francisco. He has performed in L.A., Washington D.C., NYC, Canada, and all over California. His writing has been published in numerous anthologies and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is a Lambda Literary Fellow in Poetry and Lambda Literary Fellow in Playwriting. He regularly organizes poetry shows in the Bay Area, is currently the curator and head organizer for The San Francisco Queer Open Mic, and is program director for Donde Esta Mi Gente. He was born in Toluca, Mexico, and grew up in Albany, California. Read more

Courtney Riddle is the zine ambassador of Market Street, selling small handmade books out of a formerly abandoned newspaper kiosk, The Grand Newsstand. She’s been spreading zines to unwitting tourists for more than a year now. But secretly she harbors another aspiration: driving Muni. There’s just one small problem she had to overcome, as she tells the audience in this week’s Muni Diaries podcast episode.

Courtney’s best friends aren’t deterred by anything that stands in the way of her dreams! Naturally, they wrote a song about it and dressed up in coordinating Muni-themed outfits to sing it to the crowd at Muni Diaries Live.

The Muni Diaries Podcast features stories from Muni Diaries Live, plus new stories from our archive. To subscribe, find us on iTunes, Google Play, or use this RSS link. New episodes will be released every Tuesday, so subscribe to the podcast for great new stories from the bus!